Phil

Wigan Pride today. No big names (limited budget), no big crowd but more than enough folks and allies for a good time. It’s important to support small town Prides otherwise they’ll all disappear.

#wigan #wiganpride

This is very very niche unless you have an interest in Liverpool, the music scene in Liverpool in the 70’s and errm Carl Gustav Jung (seriously). However, this is a great little article about the first of the mad events called the “Jung Festival” that occurred in Liverpool. It was a great day.

https://substack.com/home/post/p-199599505

#liverpool #liverpoolmusicscene #jung #carlgustavjung

I’m almost certainly late to the party and I have zero awareness of any source material but I am enjoying the Gotham Knights tv series which is kind of a shame because I know it got cancelled after just one series. However, 10/10 for employing trans actors

#gothamknights

Can we please teach people how to put together questionnaires? If the answer to question 6 is “no - I have no need of this service” the following questions about “how much would I pay for it” and “where else might I go for it” etc etc should have a “Not Applicable” option if they’re all mandatory. 🤬

I find it utterly insane that a critical piece of rail infrastructure does not have a business continuity plan that includes a failover to another site. It’s all computerised these days so that should at least be easy to do.

It’s absolute carnage on railways in the North West UK this evening and thankfully me and mine are not affected.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cwy0d0wgy4xt

#NWUK #railways #news

Having just finished watching this I decided to go see what I could find out about it and the Wikipedia entry is spot on and full of excellent detail.

On the one hand it’s easily one of the worst films I’ve ever seen and yet it could easily pass for a bone fide 100% camp classic. Fun to see Joss Ackland and Miriam Margolyes though I’m disappointed/relieved to find that it isn’t “the” George Clinton in the film. Also pleased to see that 1994 didn’t turn out like that 🤣

Currently on Prime UK.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080380/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

#movies #theapple

I came across this article today about language reform in Sweden which intrigued me.

Many European languages have a formal and an informal “you” eg. Du/Vous in French and “Du/Sie” in German. Swedish also had this but it was effectively abolished around 1970 to promote egalitarianism. What I find interesting is that this seemed to happen organically i.e the country as a whole shifted its use over a period of time via common usage rather than it was imposed from on high

(NB. The Swedish du/ni these days is about a single “you” and a plural “you” )

I now want to go find out if “jantelagen” is still prevalent across the Nordics in general.

(PS if this article is incorrect then please feel to correct me!)

https://elon.io/grammar/swedish/register/du-tilltal

#language #svenska #swedish

In Manchester to fulfill a long held dream of a) seeing Sugar live and b) seeing Bob Mould (long term celebrity crush) play with a band again. The venue (New Century Hall) is an impressively restored building with a listed sprung dance floor and what they describe as a “disco ceiling”!

The downside? £40 for a flipping tour t-shirt so I won’t be buying on of those. That’s almost two thirds the cost of the admission!

#sugar #bobmould

Currently watching this on Amazon Prime UK. Yes, as a “gay” film from 1971 it’s VERY dated and loaded with clichés but I was genuinely surprised to see Rue McClanahan playing a fag hag (I had to look it up to be 100%) and even more surprised to see Gil Gerard (of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century) playing gay which was big deal back in those days.

Other notables include Fannie Flag, who wrote “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café” and Candy Darling of Andy Warhol and Lou Reed fame (….Candy came from Miami F.L.A…..)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Some_of_My_Best_Friends_Are...

#Movies #lgbtqia

As folk have been posting snaps of their plants and gardens I thought I’d share mine.

It’s rather chaotic but that’s how I like it. It’s not “showy” but to me at least it feels organic. My sole criteria for choosing is that a plant has to meet at least one of the following three criteria :

1. I like it
2. It’s drought tolerant
3. The bees like it

I am especially pleased that the hardy bananas (second photo) survived last winter as in the previous two years they’ve died and I’ve started from shop bought little cuttings again. These have also started to sprout from the bottom so I “may” be able to propagate a couple more.

The white bucket is there because I haven’t yet set up my solar plant irrigator. Everything is in pots and the irrigator means that I can give each plant a small but important top up of water when the day is cooler and not worry if I’m away for a day or two.

#gardening

Tynemouth priory and gun battery. The U.K. is not short of ruined abbeys thanks to the efforts of Henry VIII. This one is fortified with a wall around it and a moat to the landward side. The site also once contained a monastery and the site was defended against the vikings and the Scots.

Its location meant that it was also often used by the military in its later life - primarily against the threat of a Napoleonic invasion but also during both world wars. Stone from the monastery and the abbey were used as part of the construction of military buildings most of which have since been removed.

Some of the old battery still remains with one of the guns and its associated ammunition stores restored so that a better history of how it was used can be described and illustrated.

This was a fascinating site despite the inclement weather but the weather improved as can be seen in shot 4 which is the same site as seen from the opposite side of the river.

#tynemouth #priory

A great day. We’ve seen so many different things today - amazing sea views, stunning buildings and a LOT of history has been seen and further researched. I will curate and post some shots over the next few days but for now here are some of the views we got whilst walking between Tynemouth and Whitley Bay on the North East Coast of the U.K. Most of my friends know that I’m at my happiest whilst near the sea so this small portion of the day was my idea of heaven!

#uk #tynemouth #whitleybay #NorthTyneside #seaside

An interesting guided tour yesterday of the old dock in Liverpool. This currently sits underneath the Liverpool One shopping centre and a small glass portal there allows you to look down. However, Liverpool Museums run tours which allow you into the vault to get a proper view of it.

This was the world’s first commercial enclosed “wet dock”. It was built in the early 1700’s and was revealed during the building work of the shipping centre. It was pivotal in turning Liverpool into a thriving maritime city and its construction unlocked the development of the city. Visually it may not look like much but placed in context of the history of the city it takes on a new life.

#liverpool
#OldDock

Spring continues to do what it does best - surprise me with new beauty every couple of days.

Yes, they’re just randomly planted bulbs and don’t require much care but they bring me such joy at a time when the world (and occasionally just my own brain) seem intent on bringing me down.

#gardening

Ok so my favourite Swedish word of today is “snickesnacka” which means “gossip” or little chat.

(NB I know that the Danes use “ping pong” to mean friendly chatter as they have (or at least used to have) special seats on their trains designated as “ping pong”)

#svenska #swedish #wordoftheday #dansk